A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains - Movie Review Example

A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains." The documentary A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains presents a viewer with a thought provoking research results of ABC TV channel which lasted about two years. The Appalachian Mountains run through 12 states, but the documentary concentrates on central Appalachia and state of Kentucky…

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Beside rough statistics, there is also wide variety of stereotypes associated with having mountain heritage. Mountains have produced some of the fiercest war fighters. Yet, many people are living in such a poverty which is hardly conceivable in this day and age. However, mountain people are fighters. They are thought of living in dirty houses, not knowing how to read and lacking basic education, shoes or electricity; they are thought to worship the weird things, such as snakes, rather than having faith in God. These and many more stereotypes do not help people from Appalachian Mountain to succeed in life, or, rather, to achieve success easier. When people meet, they want to know which part of the country their new acquaintance is from. As soon as they learn that the person is from the mountains, they come to conclusion about what kind the person is. There are stereotypes about all kinds of people from different backgrounds and, the truth is, as the saying goes “you can’t judge a book by its cover”. The reality might be very different from what traditional way of thinking suggests. In the documentary by ABC channel and Diane Sawyer, we are taken to the state of Kentucky to look at the lives of those, who are the most disadvantaged. In a way, the movie confirms some of the stereotypes, showing small overcrowded houses, covered with litter, or even simply wagons for people to simply have a shelter. We see people who never learned how to read, and children, who lack food and whose mothers are drug addicts. This all paints a sad picture. And, reading through several blogs of people with mountain heritage, it seems they consider this film only confirming the stereotypes. I think the creator of the film wanted to show both the grave conditions of people living in Appalachia in order to draw attention to it, as well as to show how much these people can achieve, if helped. It would probably not be right if something completely opposite to the stereotypes was shown, it would not give correct picture of the life in Mountains. However, the filmmakers did not show other, not “the worst” side of the life in Appalachian Mountains. They only briefly mentioned, that there are some communities, that are striving, thus the overall picture somewhat confirm stereotypes. The conditions people live in are often is only a testimony of people’s spirit – the houses are dirty and broken when people do not have hope, when there is depression and a lack of progress. There are not many people here in the mountains, which have a job or hope to improve their condition. This is also one of the main problem people get into substance abuse. However, what Mrs. Sawyer points out, is people’s desire for a change, their spirit and willingness to fight for their future despite the odds. Angel at the age of 30 has four children, who love her dearly. She used to be a drug addict; she lost her teeth, but now, to have a chance for a better future, for the sake of her children, and in order to get a job she walks two hours one way to get to the school in order to get her GED certificate. She is not easily distracted and takes her 8 miles walk to school every day despite any weather conditions. Getting a certificate adds to her self esteem, gives her a chance to get off welfare and to find a job of a teacher. Her girls used to be moving from place to place very frequently, not having a
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